Conference to cover water issues

From Staff Reports

Published: October 21, 2007

Oklahoma's diverse water and environmental issues will be the focus of a three-day conference in Oklahoma City beginning Tuesday.

State, local and national officials will attend the 28th annual governor's water conference and water research symposium at the Cox Convention Center.

"Not since the heyday of water development in Oklahoma during the '40s and '50s has water been so much in the forefront of the public's mind,” said Duane Smith, executive director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. "Today, citizens are much more involved in water quality and pollution control issues, water use decisions, studies of our surface and groundwater resources and in determining what Oklahoma's water future should look like through the update of the state water plan.”

One conference session features a technical discussion about a hydrology study of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer in south-central Oklahoma. That study, stemming from several legal battles, is expected to be finished next year.

Other sessions include a discussion of what could be in store for Oklahoma's water future; an update by Attorney General Drew Edmondson on legal issues, including his lawsuit against the poultry industry; a presentation on Kansas' 50-year water plan; and an update on the creation of a similar plan for Oklahoma, which must be finished by 2011.

Registration begins each day at 8 a.m. For an agenda, go to www.owrb.ok.gov.

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